Vietnam rice sector plays an important role in Vietnam’s social and economic development. Vietnam is a country with exceptional comparative advantages in rice production.
Since 1993, Vietnam has become a significant net exporter of rice.
Rice lands account for 82% of the country’s arable land and about 52% of its rice is produced in the Mekong River Delta.
Vietnam has long been a strategic crop for national food security. About 15 million smallholder farmers derive their livelihoods from rice in the Red River and Mekong deltas.
How hard it is when growing Vietnam rice
Vietnam rice farming is deeply rooted in the country’s culture and tradition. The average family earns just a few million dongs a month from cultivating rice, or about one-fifth of what coffee-growers earn in the central highlands. Vietnamese rice strains are often believed to be low or middling quality – a contrast to the premium varieties grown in Thailand until recently.
In the 1980s his successors promoted hybrid seeds and improved irrigation. But the cost of fuel, fertilizers, and pesticides is rising.
Rice farmers in the work through the night to produce Vietnam rice, which is a major part of their diet. They have to cover up from head to toe to avoid the heat and sometimes work for hours at a time. The process is so labor-intensive, sometimes dozens of people will be working in a rice field at one time.
Vietnam rice farmers use traditional irrigation methods to bring water to their rice fields. The traditional method is time-consuming and physically taxing, but it is effective and requires no electricity. Vietnamese farmers also use buffalo to plow and turn the soil as well as traditional methods of irrigation. They have been working in the field since the early 1800s, when they were first used for farming.
Challenges Vietnam rice are facing
- Smallholder farmers struggle to meet the increasing quality demands of quality rice markets. Smallholder farmers lack the necessary know-how to produce quality rice. Vietnamese rice strains tend to be of low or middling quality compared to that of competitors in fragrant rice strain.
- Smallholder farmers in Vietnam have limited access to markets. Farmers’ small farm size and lack of organisation undermines their standing as potential business partners. A shift towards business farmer organisations would help improve farmers’ access to the market.
- Vietnam Rice farmers are increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In 2016, an estimated 1.29 million tonnes of Vietnam’s rice were lost to the country’s biggest drought in 90 years. The livelihoods of nearly 2 million smallholder farmers and poor households were affected by the drought.
- Vietnam Rice products from Vietnam have very limited traceability. Rice enterprises have heavily relied on collection systems to supply their paddy which makes traceability difficult and undermines the quality of rice products. More inclusive business practices would ensure win-win and fairer relationships between farmer organizations and vietnam rice enterprises.
- Vietnam’s reputation for providing low quality rice and the absence of an appealing national brand contribute to keeping low prices for farmers. Vietnam’s export consists mainly of white rice at the lower end of the market. The quality of Vietnamese rice sold in export markets is lower compared to other Mekong Countries, and therefore cheaper.
- Current Vietnam rice production practices in Vietnam remain input-intensive to the detriment of the environment and people. Rice paddies are a major producer of methane which contributes to climate change. Vietnamese soils in rice-growing regions are very poor in nutrients making it impossible to use them for other crops such as maize.
Important factors to make sure of bumper Vietnam rice crops
Weather makes a big impact to the agriculture in general & on rice cultivation in Vietnam. Water is the first vital importance, Manure as the second factor, Hardworking is the third must, Seed is the fourth and last factor for a bumper rice crop. The weather can also affect the quality of the rice that farmers are able to make from their crops.
Rice paddy is like the blood to the body – if water is not available in the fields, the rice paddy could get withered and end its life. Rice cultivation in Vietnam is repeatedly taken place each year with 2- 3 crops leading to the soil’s fertility reduction. When the new crop starts, farmers will both let the land free for a while and add a number of manure to the fields which will bring more nutrient for the soils and help the rice grow steadily.
Rice cultivation needs a lot of hard work: from ploughing, harrowing the fields to planting the paddy, harvesting the grains and cooking the rice for steamed rice. Good seed is another essential factor for a good reap, as well as good water supply and good seed selection. To make sure any bumper crops, farmers will have to pay great attention to all of those fundamental elements at the same time.
Opportunities for a more sustainable & inclusive Vietnam rice sector
There is a growing demand for better quality rice as income levels increase and consumer food preferences change.
The Sustainable Rice Platform, an initiative of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) made up of over 80 institutional members recently adopted a standard for sustainable rice production.
However, this standard does not yet come with a recommended quality assurance system to verify farmers’ compliance and progress towards the standard.
Recently, the Vietnamese government launched a policy strategy for restructuring the rice sector which shifts the government’s focus from quantity to quality, from food security to food safety, and from a supply-driven sector to a market-driven one.
Rice cultivation needs a lot of hard work: from ploughing, harrowing the fields to planting the paddy, harvesting the grains, taking husks from the grains and cooking the rice for steamed rice.
When the rice is sown, farmers need to visit the fields regularly to make sure that water supply is available, no pest destroy the paddle. Good seed selection is another essential factor for a good reap. All those factors are equally important.
Our strategies about Vietnam rice
We provide trainings on marketing, business negotiation, production planning, and business planning to smallholder farmers and supermarkets. The company is testing the feasibility of using Participatory Guarantee Systems as a quality assurance mechanism for rice produced according to the SRP standard.
To conclude, Vietnam’s rice production is caught between two competing models of development. Smallholder farmers are shielded from globalization and vast farm modernization. Government intervention has done much to improve livelihoods for smallholder farmers but it’s reduced competitiveness in the rice subsector. Vietnam’s model of small scale rice production has not yet been able to square with rapid economic development.
More information about Ngọc Mai
Ngoc Mai Rice specializes in the production and delivery of quality standard rice, offering a source of pure and quality rice for charity, production, commercial and export units. Ngoc Mai is a dependable source of supply for domestic and international partners because to its commitment to rice quality. Commitment to not mixing rice and to not providing consumers with counterfeit items.
NGOC MAI – LONG AN NICE RICE CO., LTD has been offering high quality rice, including glutinous rice and red-black brown rice, for a long time, so if you’re looking forward to tasty yet healthy meals, don’t hesitate to contact us right away for purchasing guidance!
NGỌC MAI CO LTD – PERFUME RICE AND GLUTINOUS RICE IN LONG AN PROVINCE, VIETNAM
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- Address: 46 Nguyễn Văn Cương, phường Tân Khánh, TP. Tân An, tỉnh Long An.
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